You know that old saying: ‘if you want something done properly, do it yourself’? Sometimes old sayings don’t get it right.
A woman in her 80s took it upon herself to restore a deteriorated painting of the Christian Messiah when she felt it had been too long waiting for it to be polished up professionally. The Jesus Christ fresco Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) by Elias Garcia Martinez though fortunately not extremely valuable or old, is a local favourite and carries much sentimental worth.
Spanish cultural officials are shocked after her work left it looking like ‘a hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic’. Their words, not ours.
Ecce Homo had been kept in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near Zaragoza for over 100 years and not surprisingly the fresco had been damaged by moisture. The woman decided it needed restoring to its former glory and without permission snuck in with a paintbrush to fix it.At some point after realising Christ now looked like he belonged on the Planet of the Apes she realised that she was out of her depth and called Juan Maria Ojeda, the city’s councilor in charge of cultural affairs, for assistance.
Mr Ojeda said: “I think she had good intentions. Next week she will meet with a repairer and explain what kind of materials she used.”
“If we can’t fix it, we will probably cover the wall with a photo of the painting.”
This story sounds more and more like the Mr Bean movie all the time…
Ironically, a local centre which preserves artworks had just received a donation from the artist’s granddaughter to restore the original piece. Too late!
By Lewis Roe
@CrackingAce
Jesus’ Face Appears At A Takeaway HERE
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